A typical arbor press applies pressure by means of a tool on an end of a rack to a product on which work is to be performed. Such a press typically has a manually-operable shaft-type handle pulled toward the operator to force the tool into pressure engagement with the product. Especially in smaller arbor presses, e.g., of the range which apply less than fives tons pressure, the operator determines the actual end pressure applied by "feel" and/or viewing the working of the product in order to know when to discontinue pressure application. While this is acceptable for many types of jobs, in certain applications, the pressure control must be precise. An example of the need for precision-controlled pressure is where electrically-conducting terminals are being applied to a fiberglass-rosin circuit board. Such boards are subject to cracking or crazing around a hole provided for the terminal if excessive pressure is applied. Alternatively, if insufficient pressure is applied, the terminal may not be tight enough and problems may arise because of the terminal's looseness. Because the pressure "feel" of one person can be substantially different from that of another, where different individuals are producing a large quantity of the same product, batch inconsistencies can result. This can be quite detrimental, especially where product quality is of great importance as, for example, in the manufacture of parts which are to be used in sophisticated electronic controls.